LOCAL WALKS
AROUND THE VILLAGE1. A good, 45 minute, circular walk to orientate yourself on arrival and get good views of Fornalutx. Start in the village square and go up the steps with the church on your right. Keep going, up, up until there are no more houses on your right. Where the path divides, look for a wooden walkers´sign on your left marking the direction to “Fumadora” and “Sa Commune”. Take these cobbled steps up (look out for the turkey farm on your way) until you reach the asphalt road which leads into the village. Turn left and walk along this for several minutes until, just before the main Soller – Lluc road, where there is a road sign indicating that the main road is in 100 meters. On the left, there is another wooden walkers´sign marked back to Fornalutx. Make your way down back to the village and into the square.
2.“The Eight Waterfall Walk” - another, circular 45 minute walk -
along the river and offering different views of Fornalutx. Turn right out of the hotel, left at the end of the street and up the stairs and immediately right. Continue along this village lane, until you get to a bridge on the right. Don´t cross it (you cross it on the return journey), but continue straight ahead on the Ca. de Sa Font to get to a “T” Junction. With the stone arch ahead of you, turn right and cross another bridge which doesn´t acually cross the main river, but a gully. Continue ahead along the road and up the hill for about two hundred yards to where it becomes more of a concrete path which runs along the river. Continue on up the track, keeping the river bed always on your right. I counted eight small waterfalls in January – no doubt there are more in spring and fewer in the summer. It gets quite steep in places until, after about 15 minutes, you cross some stepping stones and then up a steep cobbled path until you get to a bridge which takes you right across the river to a tarmac road which goes, thankfully downhill back to the village.
3. A longer, more strenuous, circular walk of two hours, which takes you along the foothills of the mountain opposite Ca´n Reus.
Turn left out of the hotel and left down the road to Soller (with the Bellavista Restaurant on you right). Carry on down the road, take the second stone flight of steps on your right. Go up these and follow signs up and to the left for the Sa Tanqueta Hotel which soon appears on your left. Carry on the path which veers right and past the cemetery on your left . Take the cobbled track marked “Soller a Peu” through the olive groves. Look out for red painted dots and cairns which show you the way. After you have gone through a gate, the path narrows and you come to the tiny hamlet of Binibassi. Turn left, following the signs to Biniaraix. When you come to the main (Soller to Fornalutx) road, turn left and then almost immediately right, again following signs to Biniaraix. Follow the path up and onto a cobbled street. Do not go down the slope ahead of you, but turn left into the Calle St. Caterina and then left again following the arrow “Telefono”, past the bar (pause for a drink but be prepared for the most curmudgeonly publicans in the valley!) and then on down the Carrer San Josep to the public wash house.
Take the first turning on the left, (after the wash house) up a narrow road with a No Entry sign. Continue along this road as it twists and turns its way up the hill which will give you great views of the Soller valley, of Fornalutx from the other side of the river and of some charming fincas. Take advantage of the remains of the old track visible on the right, which will allow you to shortcut some of the hairpin bends. After 30 minutes or so, you come to a house with “cartwheel” window. After another couple of turns in the road, look out for two waist high concrete pillars on the left with a chain, apparently barring the track that goes downhill to Fornalutx from here. Boldly leaping over
ducking under the chain, which is sometimes lying on the ground, this path will take you back to the village. When you get to the bridge, turn left and you will soon be at the stone steps which lead down to Carrer de l’Auba and back to Ca’n Reus.
WALKS TO SOLLER AND GETTING TO THE PORT AND BACK
4. Fornalutx to Soller, via Biniaraix, about 45 minutes.Turn left out of the hotel and left down the road to Soller (past the Bellavista Restaurant on your right). Look for a white concrete pillar on the left with “4” on it. After the house, take the path down on the left, cross the road and look for “Soller A Peu” and walk down that track onto the Soller road again. Turn right and walk along this for about 5 minutes until you come to a sign on the left to the village of Biniaraix. Take this road and when you get to a T Junction at the Carrer San Josep, turn right and walk down through the village of Biniaraix. It is a lovely village, worth the detour, a little more authentic and less well preserved than Fornalutx, though lacking a village square. At the end of the cobbled street, turn left, go down the steps and then right onto the tarmac road. Follow the road down towards Soller. Ignore the signs to “Fornalutx”, Palma and “Centre”. Walk straight ahead which will take you onto the Carrer de la Luna (Soller´s main shopping street) and into the Placa with its plentiful bars, restaurants, noise and local colour. You can get the tram (follow the tram tracks for the stop opposite the Mercato Municipal) to the Port – a “must” while in the area.
5. Fornalutx to Soller, via the Cemetery, Olive Groves and Binibassi, 45 mins. Turn left out of the hotel and left down the road to Soller (with the Bellavista Restaurant on you right). Carry on down the road, looking for a stone flight of steps on your right. Go up these and follow signs up and to the left for the Sa Tanqueta Hotel which soon appears on your left. Carry on the path which veers right and past the cemetery on your left . Take the cobbled track marked “Soller A Peu” through the olive groves. Look out for red painted dots and cairns which show you the way. After you have gone through a gate, the path narrows and you come to the tiny hamlet of Binibassi. Follow the signed path to Soller, through orange and lemon trees and onto the road into Soller. Walk along the asphalt road, with the river bed on your left and follow signs to the Centre and then follow the tram tracks to the Placa.
6a. To walk from Fornalutx to the port – 2 hours. Turn left out of the hotel and left down the road leading out of the village. At the Bellavista restaurant, turn right up the Carrer des Sol and then straight up into the Carrer des Toros. Go past the Ca’n Verdera Hotel on the left and turn left, following the wooden walkers’ signs to Porto Soller and Tuent. After a few minutes, look out for the cobbled steps on the right which give shortcuts off the concrete path which leads up out of the village. At the top of these first steps turn right for the next set of steps, then left for the third set of steps, then right and straight across up for more steps and then left on the concrete path until you get to the tarmac road that leads to Fornalutx and turn left. Turn left onto the 710 (signposted Soller, Andratx and Palma) and, 20 meters later, cross over the road (take care) to take the path signed to Porto Soller. At 5 min, the path divides. Take the left hand of the fork here up a narrow, rugged path. Carry on until the path reaches a concrete road and follow signs to the Port. Continue and, at 30 mins, there is a large, deserted house on the right. Go through the green gate. At 45 mins, there is another sign to Port Soller, keep to the left and through another gate. The path becomes narrow and vertiginous, take care. At 50 mins, a row of stones blocks the path ahead, take the path to the left and down cobbled steps. Go through another gate and past a ruined house on the right. Follow the path indicated to the right (do not carry on down the concrete road) and carry on down until you get to a tarmac road. Turn left and then immediately right at the T Junction and continue on this road for another 20 mins to the port. Turn right at the sea for a variety of good restaurants- we recommend La Lua, past the tram stop and up the road going uphill.
6b To walk back from Puerto Soller to Fornalutx, about 2 and a half hours. You need to find the “Es Port” Hotel, a local landmark in Puerto Soller, set back from the front, alongside the Torrent de Figuera. Pass the hotel on the right and take the country road, the MA 2124, off the new roundabout. You follow this for about half an hour as it winds past the picturesque hamlet of Es Figuerel, handsome haciendas, rustic fincas all surrounded by carob, fig, olive, orange and lemon trees. Look out for a sign to the right up a steep path indicating the walkers’ path to Soller. After another half hour through lovely countryside, it takes you onto a side road which leads you to the main C710. The next half hour is on roads, albeit not very busy ones. With due care, cross the C710 road, and continue up the Cami Sa Figuera. Pass a church on your left and up a “no entry” road, and follow signs for Fornalutx. After half an hour or so, you pass the football stadium on your left and Fornalutx is signed to the left, before the bridge. Take this road, keeping the river on your right. When the road bends round to the right look for a wooden, walkers’ sign to Fornalutx on the left. This is walk number 5 (above) in reverse, via the olive groves, and a much nicer way to get back to the village than by the road. When you get to the hamlet of Binibassi, there is a sign to Bianiaraix. Do NOT take this. It leads back onto the road. Take the path to the left which runs parallel to a water channel, through the (unlocked) gate marked “Caza Privada” (Private Hunting).No need to worry about this unless you are carrying your hunting rifle! Look out for cairns and red painted spots and arrows, pointing “F” for Fornalutx. This attractive path takes you to the village, via the cemetery.
7. A WALK - (UPHILL) TO LUNCH AND (DOWNHILL) BACK. A lovely, scenic walk which takes you through the olive groves, straight up the mountain to the Mirador restaurant - I hour up, 50 minutes back. Or go on for a pleasant a two hour walk to Puerto Soller. Start in the village square and go up the steps with the church on your right. Keep going, up, up until there are no more houses on your right. Where the path divides, look for a wooden walkers´sign on your left marking the direction to “Fumadora” and “Sa Commune”. Take these cobbled steps up (look out for the turkey farm on your way) until you reach the asphalt road which leads into the village.
Turn left and walk along this for several minutes until, just before the main Soller – Lluc road, where there is a road sign indicating that the main road is in 100 meters. On the left, there is a wooden walkers´ sign indicating the path back to Fornalutx. Look for a flight of stone steps on the opposite side of the road, on the right and go up them. This takes you through someone´s backyard, but it IS a right of way, and onto the main Soller to Lluc road.
Cross the road (take care) and from now on follow the set of wooden walkers´signs marking the way to “Tuent”, which you will see opposite, pointing up through the woods. Walk along a track until you see a flight of cobbled steps on the right with a metal fence running alongside. Follow these steps
path up until you meet the road again. Turn left and cross the tarmac road and look for the next “Tuent” sign a few meters along, on the right. Continue up the cobbled steps. At the top, turn left onto the track and continue until you meet the tarmac road again.
Turn right this time, cross the road again and look for the “Tuent” sign on your left. Continue along the stone trail and go through a rickety gate. Ignore the path to your left and follow the broad level track to a solid gate. After you have gone through this gate, there is the possibility of confusion due to a choice of paths. There is a wooden marker with an arrow on it. Follow the arrow literally, i.e. straight up another flight of stone steps. The path is quite badly eroded here, so take care. There is a metal cord on the leftt to clutch onto, if necessary. This, final path takes you to the car park of the Mirador restaurant.
For the return journey, with your back to the restaurant and vending machines, walk past the steps which lead to the viewing area and down the track straight ahead, through open metal gates with no entry signs. Take the first left onto a track that takes you back under the Mirador Restaurant and follow it for about 20 minutes until you see a sign to Fornalutx going left and a sign to Porto Soller going right, back track a few meters to another sign indicating Fornalutx, up a concrete slope and then the path to the right for a 20 minute walk to the main road. (Only possible confusion - when you get to a dirt road, cross it and you will see another walkers’ arrow in the woods ahead). When you get down onto the road to Fornalutx, follow the wooden, walkers’ sign on the right back to the village, for variation.
Or, for a pleasant two hour walk to Puerto Soller, go on past the Mirador Restaurant as described above and opposite the sign to Fornalutx on the left, look for the sign to “Porto Soller” on the right. The track is well signposted except when you reach the tarmac road – turn left onto this road and then first right down onto the road to the port.
8. A WALK FROM THE MIRADOR DOWN ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VALLEYS IN THE ISLAND AND THEN A CLIFF WALK TO CALA TUENT, LUNCH AND A BOAT BACK.
A four hour walk which includes pine forests, olive groves, cliffs and fantastic sea views and ends at a restaurant with good food and a splendid panorama of the bay of Cala Tuent. In the summer months a boat arrives at Cala Tuent to take you back to Puerto Soller. The boat journey makes for a perfect end to a great walk.
Begin the walk at the Mirador restaurant, (a ten minute drive on the C 710 towards Lluc, or, you can walk it as described in Local Walks, number 7 above). Opposite the restaurant is a wooden sign with ´Tuent´ on it. Follow this sign up the stone steps and keep to the left. The steps soon turn into a wider track. Follow this track for about twenty minutes until you come to a big opening on your right below a big house. Go through this opening onto a track with views of the beautiful valley of Balitx. Follow this winding track for about thirty minutes down hill. The track then turns into a narrow path and passes a deserted farm house on the left. After the farm house the path widens again for a while and then it becomes narrow again as it winds down a steep hill. At the bottom, you come to the farm of Balitx d´Avall. Step into the farm house for a glass of fresh orange juice from Maria and Guillermo. This marks the half way point of the walk.
Suitably refreshed, turn down left out of the farm and descend the stony trail to the right and cross the stream bed. Then begin a steepish ascent of some thirty minutes up to the pass. This is called the Coll de Biniamar. From here, you will get your first glimpse of the sea. Now descend again along a dirt track through woods for about twenty minutes until you get to a point where there is a path off to the right, towards the sea. Follow this narrow path for about an hour as it winds its way along the cliff with spectacular views of the sea to your left. Eventually the path goes back into woods and the, once in the open again, go left downhill towards Cala Tuent. Keep your eyes out for wooden signs to “Tuent” and “Es Vergeret” (the name of the restaurant which is your goal) and not to “Sa Calobra”, which would take you onto the next bay.
The path descends to this restaurant, a great place to have lunch before a bathe in the sea. (To book:971517105.) To get to the sea, look for a path through the woods under the restaurant to avoid the windy road down. The boat to Puerto Soller, which does not run Saturday or Sunday or in July and August, can be boarded at the jetty on the beach. The departure time is usually around 4.30 p.m. But please check with the hotel reception, or, with “Barcos Azules” 971630170. From Puerto Soller, get a taxi back to Fornalutx, or, if you have left your car there, to the Mirador.
If there is no boat running, ask the restaurant to book you a taxi back, or, the walk can be done in reverse - ie. a taxi to Cala Tuent to start and then walk to the Mirador Restaurant for lunch. Must book: 971.630652.
9. ANOTHER CIRCULAR WALK FROM THE VILLAGE - TO THE TOP OF THE PEAK FACING THE HOTEL AND BACK DOWN TO FORNALUTX. 5 HOURS.
This is a strenuous walk, often without the help of the comforting, wooden walkers´signs. You must rely on looking out for cairns and common sense. Only for experienced hill walkers, but well worth it for the challenge and for the views.
Turn left out of the hotel and left down the road to Soller (past the Bellavista Restaurant on your right). Look for a white concrete pillar on the left with “4” on it. After the house, take the path down on the left, cross the road and look for “Soller A Peu” and walk down that track onto the Soller road again. Turn right and walk along this for about 5 minutes until you come to a sign on the left to the village of Biniaraix. Take this road and when you get to a T Junction at the Carrer San Josep, turn left and walk past the old wash house and a tarmac road with a “No Entry” sign. Straight ahead, you will see a wooden sign marked “Barranc de Biniaraix” to Cuber. Thus begins a long, steep cobbled path which was once the pilgrim´s way to the monastery at Lluc. Don´t forget to stop and look back for increasingly dramatic views of the bay of Soller.
After an hour an a half or so, you reach a metal gate with a “¡Peligro Toros! sign. (Don´t be put off by this. I have done this walk dozens of times and have yet to be chased by a bull!) Keep following signs to Cuber and go through a second metal gate, which is the entry to the L’Ofre Farm. Climb up a steep path to the left, follow the path around to the right and pause for a great view back down the Soller valley at a viewing spot (complete with broken telescope) on the left.
Now, for a rather boring part of the walk. Follow the path through the woods, (very welcome shade in summer), leaving it now and then by taking the wooden signs to Cuber marked to the left of the path, until you emerge at the coll with great views of the L’Ofre peak to your right and the Cuber reservoir straight ahead. An ideal picnic spot.
Now the tricky bit. Backtrack slightly to the iron cross on a large cairn and, with your back to the reservoir, look to the right for the yellow
brown coloured path that crosses the terrain here, punctuated by cairns. After a while, it crosses a broken wall. Keep following it, looking carefully for cairns (which take you to the left of the large boulder). Don´t forget to admire the dramatic mountainscape. The path goes down a steep slope to the edge of a valley where you find another wall. Keep the wall on your left and you will come to the “cleft” on the mountain ridge (which you can see from the hotel terraza) through which you walk down back to Fornalutx.
The path is on loose rocks and traverses a few small scree slopes and there are a couple of fallen trees to duck under or leap over. Be careful - it is ankle breaking potential for about an hour with only the comfort of the sight of the village gradually getting closer to reassure you, until you find yourself walking on cobbled paths bordering fincas and onto a narrow, tarmac road. Turn left along this for a bit and look out for paths to the right of the road, cutting off the hairpin bends, which take you down back to Fornalutx, emerging at the bridge across the river.